but, general dempsey said that the president's national security staff was being constantly updated. so top staff members were in the loop throughout the whole thing. good enough? >> probably not. i think up until yesterday this benghazi story had been about hillary clinton, about susan rice, about the state department. yesterday it became about president obama. and the question was, where was he, after having a prescheduled meeting in the afternoon on that day, secretary panetta spoke to him no more. i think what became clear with lindsey graham's questioning about possible military activity is that nobody in the pentagon would have ordered military act ship without a specific order from the president. and the president wasn't around. rick: i want do ask you both, we have about a minute and a half left. another story came out of these hearings. that is the president himself, rick, himself opposed a plan that was supported by pretty much everybody else in his administration, to try to arm the rebels in syria. what do you make of that? >> you know i think it's remarkable that his team